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E39 (1997 - 2003) The BMW 5-Series (E39 chassis) was introduced in the United States as a 1997 model year car and lasted until the 2004 when the E60 chassis was released. The United States saw several variations including the 525i, 528i, 530i and 540i. -- View the E39 Wiki

There's a little button on top of the seat trim on both driver and passenger front seats, right next to the bolster. What does it do? I've never seen anything there before on an e39 and realoem doesn't have any info.
Inquiring minds...

There's a little button on top of the seat trim on both driver and passenger front seats, right next to the bolster. What does it do? I've never seen anything there before on an e39 and realoem doesn't have any info.
Inquiring minds...

-Good eye. That's the toggle for the seat heater/massagers. Great on road trips!

It is hard to tell from the pics, what kind of shape is the interior in? Seems like the trim has been painted orange? Are the seats hard, or have you kept up on reconditioning? Thanks

-Seats are in very good condition, apart from some usual wear on the side of the driver's seat. Overall I think it's in better condition that when we got it, having kept up on conditioning and treating certain areas with Soffner.

Original wood trim was faded (milky) and scratched from the previous owner, so I sanded/primed/pained/cleared it. It's a bronze base with a slight green-to-copper shifting metallic in it. Colors my wife preferred. It unintentionally reminds me of wood trim when the corner of your eye sees it while driving, go figure.

I just noticed(small print hard to read in ad) that the car has been fully repainted...that scares me a bit. Can you tell me why it was repainted? Has all maintenance been kept up, and if so, did you keep your records? Does it need anything? Thanks

I just noticed(small print hard to read in ad) that the car has been fully repainted...that scares me a bit. Can you tell me why it was repainted? Has all maintenance been kept up, and if so, did you keep your records? Does it need anything? Thanks

-It was repainted several years ago because of extensive rock chips from the previous owner. Cosmetically unacceptable for us. Changed from Cosmos Black to Sapphire Black, blending in the door jambs for a seemless look. Almost the entire interior was removed during the repaint. It is lifetime guaranteed for defects from Brea Auto Body.

Another question...unfortunately on another site a gentleman asked about the motor in the car, has it been replaced?

-Yeah, at around 70k miles (gotta check records to be exactly sure) there was a sudden oil pump failure that scarred a bearing and a cylinder bore. So the engine was swapped for another, which was inspected internally, and apart from the usual seal and water pump system replacements common to the mileage at that time, has been solid since. The lesson: 3rd-party extended warranty FTW!

How many miles on the replaced motor when you bought it, and how many have you put on it? Did the new motor have the Dinan bits on it already. I am interested in the car, it just has a lot of question marks.

How many miles on the replaced motor when you bought it, and how many have you put on it? Did the new motor have the Dinan bits on it already. I am interested in the car, it just has a lot of question marks.

-If memory serves the "new" motor had about 60-65k on it. No idea if it had Dinan stuff on it, but the most that could be would be the Dinan-modded 7 Series intake manifold, Dinan CAI and software. Not mods that would effect engine life. The most important detail is that it was inspected by Bullet Performance internally prior to installation. If you want more specific details, call Bullet. They are selling the car and also did the engine swap.

-Good eye. That's the toggle for the seat heater/massagers. Great on road trips!

Very cool, and I'm jealous. I've got the seat heaters too, and I see that you have switches in the normal place too. Do you have a link to what you did or an install thread? I would love to have the e38 active seats but without a recover have a feeling that it would be too much work. It appears that you have the stock leather still and I'm very intrigued. I like the idea of adding a switch instead of running a new wire to the dash for the active seats.

Very cool, and I'm jealous. I've got the seat heaters too, and I see that you have switches in the normal place too. Do you have a link to what you did or an install thread? I would love to have the e38 active seats but without a recover have a feeling that it would be too much work. It appears that you have the stock leather still and I'm very intrigued. I like the idea of adding a switch instead of running a new wire to the dash for the active seats.

-I wasn't around the shop much during install, and that was before I compulsively documented every mod on our BMWs. I wish it was easy enough to strip them off the wagon and add them to our X3, but it's very time-intensive. I'm going to miss them.

I can vouch for the car and the seller as well. I actually considered buying the touring and selling mine, as the value for what is on the car is significant. Think about it, you are basically getting all the mods for 10% of original cost, and all the work done was top notch. Anything cosmetic that you would want to change out will cost very little compared to what you are getting overall.

Ultimately, it was going to be an impossible sell for the wife to buy that buying a car with a little more miles than mine would make sense when mine is already perfect. Mine is hardly driven and has been babied since we got it. Saying it would stop even better than ours wouldn't fly considering how good the stock brakes are compared to most every other car out there.

To the right person, this car will be awesome in every way, DD, trackster, or show pony...